Playing catch with Houston Astros prospect Bud Norris

It wasn’t in a baseball stadium as I had dreamed as a child. It wasn’t in crisp, clean uniform like I had once imagined. But last Thursday, I played catch with a future Major League baseball player.

I drove over to do an interview with Bud Norris at his parents’ Novato home, right around the corner from San Marin High, where Norris first made his name as a second-team all-MCAL third baseman and No. 2 pitcher before going on to pitch three years at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and being drafted by the Houston Astros in 2006. After he finished the brief photo shoot, we sat down at the family’s dining room table and started the interview, which ended up lasting almost an hour.

Talking to Bud was not like most interviews I’ve conducted. It reminded me more of talking to one of my old high school teammates than anything else, a couple 23-year-olds talking baseball and shooting the you-know-what. So, after almost an hour, I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of what makes him tick, how he’s reached the cusp of Major League playing time, the type of teammate he is on and off the field, etc., etc.

(The biggest knee slapper of the interview came when Norris got a call on his cell phone from his mom. His car was in the shop, and she wanted him to run six miles he said to pick it up. He replied simply, “Goodbye, mom.” After he hung up the phone, he turned to me and said, “I’m a baseball player, not a track star.”)

But since I had never seen him pitch, I had no idea what he was like as an actual baseball player his release point, accuracy, natural movement, pop and the like. So, to that end, I suggested we have a game of catch in front of his house. He seemed pleasantly surprised to have found someone to throw the ball around with. He said none of his friends could catch him anymore. Makes sense. The guy does get his fastball up to 98 mph.

He had to rummage upstairs and in the garage to find a pair of gloves, but eventually he found his college glove (an all black piece that left black smudges on the baseball) and another tan one that had never been used, supposedly a gift for his neighbor that hadn’t been passed along. Bud took that one I was not terribly interested in trying to catch a live, Major League caliber arm with a glove that wouldn’t close all the way.

We started to toss the ball and while I was slightly more erratic than Norris, who hit me in the chest all but maybe two or three times, I was pleased to see that I could throw the ball with some velocity and accuracy. After all, it was less than five years ago that I was a starting right fielder throwing base runners out in the Western Catholic Athletic League and in the Central Coast Section tournament (sometimes).

The main difference, however, was the pop that my glove made when catching his throws. I can definitely see why Stan Boroski, Norris’ pitching coach at Double-A Corpus Christi last season, later described his fastball to me as “live.” It had that little explosive jump at the end that can’t really be taught. And he was probably only getting it up there around 85 mph. At this point, I think I’d pass on standing in to face his high-90’s heater.

We stopped playing catch after about 10 minutes (he was supposed to be resting his arm, after all), but it had been a very revealing 10 minutes. Bud is not the most physically imposing guy. He stands about 6-feet tall and looks to have a lot of upper body strength, but there were definitely guys in my high school league, even on my team, that were bigger and had more natural talent. So, why are most of those guys not on the brink of a Major League career? Dedication. Like I quoted Bud in my story, he set goals of playing varsity high school ball, getting an NCAA Division I scholarship, getting drafted in the top 10 rounds of the MLB draft and then of climbing the organizational ladder and making the big leagues. In each case, he’s done whatever necessary to reach those benchmarks.

(Our conversation during the game of catch turned to steroids, with Bud referring to those using banned substances as “cheaters.” I’ve always been one to blame Bud Selig and MLB for the steroid explosion more so than the players who took anabolic substances, but this got me thinking. For a guy like Norris who has worked his tail off without chemical help to get where he is, it is pretty unfair that some guys have gotten there ahead of him because of their “enhanced” status. He said in the minors they are urine tested every so often. Blood tests, anyone?)

So, while it’s tough to say whether Bud will make the Opening Day 25-man roster, I feel comfortable saying that he will set foot on a big-league mound at some point during the 2009 season.

At which point, I’ll be the guy watching ESPN and saying, “I played catch with that guy.”

5 Responses to Playing catch with Houston Astros prospect Bud Norris

I met Bud when he was playing for the Aloha Knights (in Gresham, Oregon) back in 2005, and I was shooting the team. Quality young man in every sense of the word. My youngest son hung around a bit. I think he was 11 then. Bud really took him under his wing. You can tell a lot about guy by how he treats kids. Somebody crushed a baseball on one of Bud’s off days. He pulled the strings out, made them into a couple of bracelets, and gave 1 to my son. He wore his 24/7 for almost a year, until it fell apart. It was a constant and welcome reminder of the good times with Bud. When he gets called up to the majors, we’re having a party at our house!

Nice piece. A big Cardinals fan, I googled Bud’s name and found this blog after spending 2 1/2 hours yesterday in Busch Stadium wondering where this kid came from. He shut down everybody, from Pujols to Holliday. Hopefully we’ll be better prepared when we meet him again! But I wish him well… just not against us!

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